This year marks 70 years since the so-called "Bikini Incident," in which the Japanese fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru and a fishing boat in Kochi Prefecture were also exposed to radiation during a hydrogen bomb test conducted by the United States in the Pacific Ocean. On March 1st, the families of former Kochi Prefecture crew members attended a ceremony in the Marshall Islands for the first time, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The ``Bikini Incident'' occurred on March 1, 1950, when the United States conducted a hydrogen bomb test near Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and a tuna fishing boat in Shizuoka Prefecture, the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, and a fishing boat in Kochi Prefecture were also exposed to radiation. .
On March 1, the 70th anniversary of the hydrogen bomb test, a ceremony will be held in Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, with the participation of islanders who were exposed to radiation.
Setsuko Shimomoto (73), the bereaved family of a man who was a crew member of a fishing boat in Kochi Prefecture, will also be attending this year's ceremony for the first time.
At the 60th anniversary ceremony 10 years ago, Matana Oishi, a former crew member of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, attended, and Shimomoto, along with supporters, met with local members of parliament and islanders who had been exposed to radiation, and advocated for the abolition of nuclear weapons. In addition to the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, many other fishing boats in Kochi Prefecture were also damaged.
Shimomoto said, ``I want to make as many people aware of the dangers of internal radiation exposure as possible, and by touching on the lives and thoughts of the islanders, create a bond of solidarity to ensure that the damage caused by nuclear weapons is never repeated.'' I was there.